enttv

w are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 26 minutes after the hour. talking about it many different ways here on the "bill press show." many ditch ways hurricane sandy has impacted this election both in terms of the physical impact and in terms of the message of the campaign. peter, we were talking during the break early voting is another way. it shut down campaign events. the state of maryland and other states have shut down early voting. and also think about -- there are a lot of polling places that are -- are either going to be wiped out or not ready in some coastal areas particularly parts of virginia, delaware, may have to find new polling places

or whatever. across the board. >> a lot of people without power and not to make this too political but you look at swing states like virginia, a lot of people without power in virginia. 500,000 people without power in pennsylvania. obviously you've got new york and new jersey and the district of columbia and maryland. it is a week away. >> bill: another impact, too for the last four nights, certainly, the network news has started out the first 15 minutes has been about the storm. the approach of the storm. the impact of the storm. last night in fact, the networks went to one hour and there was like no politics in it. it was all -- >> except for the ads that you get. >> bill: people's attention not on the election. janine is calling from the hudson river valley. hi. >> caller: how are you mr. press? >> bill: bill, thank you. great. >> caller: bill, i just wanted to make a comment about what you said about the federal

government's role in disasters. i agree with you. if mitt romney is elected, it would be a disaster. this man wants to have 50 states doing 50 different things. how can we have a country like that? >> bill: you can't. by the way, you would have some idiot governors right like there were idiot governors who refused to take stimulus money. >> like the one down in louisiana. >> bill: that's the guy i was talking about. bobby jindal. there are governors that refuse to take high-speed rail money right. >> caller: that's unbelievable because in europe, you don't have to fly everywhere. it would advance the country. i don't understand the retch can thinking. >> bill: i think sandy really proves that this republican thinking is not good for our country. it doesn't fit the needs of americans and it just shows how shallow and wrong mitt romney's whole philosophy is. just think about hurricane sandy. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

stages of a plan they hatched back probably at reagan's time or before that when they've had successful democracy depended on an informed electorate. our country's future depends on you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. take the time to learn about the issues. don't just vote, vote smart.

>> obama: the election will take care of itself next week. right now our number one priority is to make sure we are saving lives. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama on the job yesterday at the white house, commander in chief for hurricane sandy. back to your calls about how this election -- how the storm impacts the election. first, here is a little item that caught my attention. even members of the armed services, subject to identity theft. story out of washington state.

officials raided several locations in washington state. finding that hundreds of people including active duty military personnel had their identities stolen. you hear a story like that. you need some protection against identity theft. i recommend -- what i've got. lifelock ultimate. i recommend it. it includes keeping track of your bank accounts. but of course, lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call now and mention press 60 for 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy call within another 60 days and cancel and get a full refund. give them a call at 800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. 1-800-356-5967. >> we're tweeting at bpshow.

one thing i wanted to point out. >> bill: cornbread not war. i like that. >> when you don't have power you don't have time to fix your hair. forgive me. i'm wearing a baseball cap. >> bill: i can wear my nats cap. >> one thing i noticed on twitter were the enthusiastic tweets of people thanking the united states postal service. they got the mail on time out yesterday all along the east coast. several tweets about that. i just wanted to point that out. >> bill: they weren't shut down? >> no. they were delivering mail yesterday. >> bill: even during a hurricane. their slogan, neither rain, nor sleet -- >> they got it there. one person points out in a time like this, who would you rather have president? a community organizer or a businessman? good point. jim irwin on the political side tweeting will hurricane sandy make for paper ballots rather than electronic in states where the power is down?

the idea of what we're going to do about election day is starting to loom. that's going to be, i think the next big thing. >> bill: it is because the storm is going to be around for so long and the focus immediately after -- let's say by today right. maybe in parts of jersey and delaware and even here in the d.c. area, it will be clean up rather than more storm. we're not dealing with storm so much as cleanup. that will take a couple of days. >> six and a half million people are without power. six and a half million people are without power and we're a week away from an election. >> bill: charles calling from tampa, florida. hey, charles. >> caller: good morning, bill. i just want to -- fema sent trailers down here years ago to be used. fema said you have to take them. florida wanted to give them back to fema to be used. fema said no.

they stay where they're at. they were never used. that's one of the examples i think where fema comes into a state telling the state you're taking them. but we don't want them back. now i don't think that's right. i think that they should have been used somewhere else when needed. but fema didn't want them. they go nope. they're your problem. they were parked -- i don't know for how long. i think they finally got them destroyed because they were never used. >> bill: i don't know anything about that, charles but i do know this. that's not the way fema works today. i think you have to look at the way fema works today and the way it has worked since president obama has been in the white house. again, it is not just me saying this there's been nothing but praise for fema and craig if fugate from republican governors. mcdonnell in virginia. chris christie in new jersey. even bobby jindal in louisiana.

have praised the fact right now there is a close partnership between the white house and the governor's republican and democratic governors. but listen talk about fema. paul ryan, his budget cut -- "new york times" reports this morning. congressional republicans cut 43% out of the primary fema grants that pay for disaster preparedness. remember eric cantor. remember peter, eric cantor, the hurricane struck his district fema wanted to go in there. they wanted more money because of some of the disasters. they asked for more money to deal with the earthquake. even in cantor's district. he said no. we're not going to give fema anymore money unless you cut money from healthcare, you know. so they've been -- anti-disaster relief and again, mitt romney who wants to give it to the states, get rid of fema, put it in the hands of the state or maybe the private sector.

can you imagine, can you imagine with this hurricane hitting the coast like new jersey or atlantic city, if you had to count on who? name it. some -- some security firm, blackwell. or something. halliburton. >> there are pictures of firefighters in water up to their chests wading through streets of new york and parks to get to people who help them. they were fighting fires in the middle of a hurricane. they were dealing with buildings that had collapsed in the middle of a hurricane. >> bill: you look at the first responders rescuing those people in the hms bounty that went down. can you imagine halliburton doing it? we took the day off. >> exactly. >> bill: because it's raining. arnold, our rowing ambassador down in greensboro, north carolina. what do you say? >> good morning bill. i'm happy to talk about that.

where that storm landed, they shouldn't call it sandy. they should call it slicky. this guy in virginia, the governor mcdonnell man, he lost his campaign when he came into office, he's saying i'm so tired of the federal government putting their nose into everything and he was -- he declared 21 counties -- i mean way ahead of time. >> bill: i know. >> caller: disaster areas. >> bill: arnold, they're the first ones to have their hand out. >> gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme. >> bill: first ones to have their hand out. >> caller: i tell you he signed legislation to keep the government off his back but his daughter got pregnant by rape, he wants to -- big government in her womb and stuff. what's going on with these

people? >> bill: they preach one thing and practice another arnold is the short answer. but again and i think that "the new york times" headline sums it up. a big storm requires big government. i can't stress it too much. to me, this sums up the entire election so far. the whole choice between romney and obama hinges on this question. is there a role for the federal government or not? and romney believes there is not. he wants to privatize -- giving it to states or privatize everything. everything from healthcare to the economy. and a time when the government's gotta step in to help, for example, our auto industry. to even disaster relief. and so yeah, if -- if -- let's say north carolina's doing a good job the governor of north carolina is doing a good job, then they get disaster relief. but if you got a governor, i'm saying maybe like in mississippi who doesn't give a crap and

doesn't have anything in place the people of mississippi suffer. that's why you need fema. and remember, jimmy carter made fema a cabinet agency. george bush, bill clinton tao too. george w. bush put it in the bowels of the homeland security. then remember what happened with katrina. >> bill: down in san antonio hello, kathy. >> caller: good morning, bill. thank you for giving us a sane alternative. >> bill: to you know what. yes. >> caller: i wanted to say one of the problems was -- >> bill: hey, turn your radio or tv down in the background. >> caller: sorry. >> bill: little distracting. that's it. all right. >> caller: there are problems, situations that are too vast for the states. one being -- which was one i think one of the first accomplishments of the obama administration was the development and the dissemination of the vaccine for

that new virus that popped up, h1n1. it killed the group in between and that was an unbelievable accomplishment and the democrats never brag about it. >> bill: i forgot about that. but there are many, many, many roles where things -- look at our federal interstate highway system, right? look at the air traffic air-traffic controller system. there are some things -- look at the defense of our country. but it is not just the military. there's some things -- look at our transportation system that government does better, where the role of government is necessary to bring all of us together because what is a government? the government is just us working together to solve problems and to create a better america. so this anti-government rhetoric from paul ryan, from the tea party, hating government and from mitt romney, that's what he's all about. hurricane sandy proves that is dangerous. not just wrong. dangerous. dangerous for america.

think of hurricane sandy. speaking of, we'll talk to ray stojic from the weather channel next on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >>only on current tv. dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

the one time it's okay for you to miss my show is if that's the only time you can get to a polling place. make sure that voting is your highest priority on election day. besides, you can always dvr my show. you really cant' dvr the future of the country. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup.

only on current tv. so vote and vote smart. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. we're going to check in with the current tv's david shuster in new york city in the next hour. right now to get the latest on hurricane sandy he's been good

to be with us the last two days here. joining us again this morning meteorologist ray stagich from the weather channel. hello, ray. good morning. so i have to -- i must say that in terms of force and impact, hurricane sandy has lived up to its expectations and advanced billing, didn't it? >> it certainly did. there are spots and of course my family back at home in new york state saying that was uneventful. in the valley, hudson valley of new york state. believe it or not significant flooding even that far north on some of the creeks in the hudson river, too. so widespread impacts across a great stretch of land. right now you've got rain showers as far south as south carolina. and rain and thunderstorms as far north as northern maine. and rain and snow as far west as grand rapids, michigan and it is still going across lake michigan. unbelievable. >> bill: is the jersey shore

and lower manhattan are they the areas that have been hardest hit? >> yes. long island, too. i haven't heard much out of coastal connecticut rhode island, i have to imagine they got slammed pretty hard. the latest i had was 81% of long island without power. close to nine million customers without power across the mid-atlantic northeast new england, prediction was ten million. i've got to imagine there's going to be more. record surge or water rise in places like battery park, a record low pressure for that far north in latitude in terms of barometric pressure. i believe at one point, it was 940 millibars. then for me, people have been asking me, you know, what has been the most amazing part of this storm. those other things are pretty amazing in itself. i'm more amazed by having a landfalling hurricane and 18 inches of snow in davis, west virginia. >> that i think is what blew

everybody's mind. how did that happen? >> you know, it has all been a function of everything being in the right place at the right time. storm formed in the right spot. trough came in with the colder air in the right spot. everything set up almost perfect to give the quote-unquote perfect storm sandy, whatever people are calling it now. now it is a -- get this, it is a post-tropical cyclone sandy so it no longer has that warm core. don't ask me to explain it. >> i wasn't sure what exactly it was that hit us. >> post-tropical cyclone. it has been handed off from the national hurricane center because it is no longer tropical. to the hydro meteorological prediction center which means it is a rain event now. >> bill: where is it now? and where are we headed? >> it is 50 miles east of york, pennsylvania. 90 miles west of philadelphia. right along the pennsylvania -- maryland border moving west and it is going to get pulled north and northeast and head through

western new york state as a weakening tropical depression or weakening storm let's put it that way in layman's terms. it is snowing in parts of ohio, west virginia, even kentucky now. southern parts of the appalachians as far south as the mountains of north carolina and tennessee and the rain extends all the way north with maybe a severe thunderstorm watch coming out for parts of new england. it will weaken but it's going to be a long, drawn out process. i think for the areas that got worst hit however the damage is done. most likely left over showers in and around new york city, coastal jersey. even in through the interior of new jersey where they had some flooding too. but the worst done in terms of the wind too were gusts over 90 miles per hour. islip and jfk airport. >> bill: the flooding recede automatically? i was wondering because there is

this -- all of the factors including the full moon. so everything is -- tides are higher right? >> tides are higher. the water is still going to come up, i believe around 9:00 is the next high tide for -- let's go with battery park. that seems to be the place that's in the headlines. the thinking is that the water isn't going to rise as high. may not even flood again. but still you'll have above average or above normal tides but not expecting the water to rise as high as we had with the record rate of the water rise yesterday. >> bill: you've never seen a storm like this? >> not in my lifetime and i'm 40 some years old. superstorm '93 was close but i was in new york at that time. it was a big snow event. you know but like i said, for me, it is the snow with the hurricane that kind of -- really got me on this one. >> bill: i have to say having grown up on the east coast before i went to california and then i had to deal with

earthquakes, not hurricanes but having been through a lot of hurricanes i'm just amazed that this one -- there's been so many where they've been predicted then they went out to sea or they went off-course or whatever. this storm was tracked perfectly from the very beginning and the course of it, where it hit when it hit right on target. >> i was amazed when it took that western turn. the fact -- the track that was shown, i said this is unbelievable. all of a sudden, boom, it just takes that sharp left turn. >> if you watched this weekend i was like is this thing going to turn? everything is saying it is going to turn but you had the blocking high to the northeast. like i said, a little bit of luck in the set-up, too. you had the cold air come in. i can remember i was on the cable network saturday morning. we were talking about a couple of feet of snowfall. the storm in general you know, well forecasted, there are going to be people, especially as you get north out of new york city up into the interior new england

and new york state that are going to say it wasn't as bad as predicted but bad enough for those who got it. >> bill: absolutely. ray, if has been so good talking to you the last few days. thank you for all of your time. >> any time. >> bill: ray stagich from the weather channel. the number one network these days, i'll tell ya. we'll be right back and take a look at your comments on facebook and other matters. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable. the rid-x septic subscriber program helps prevent backups by sending you monthly doses right to your door so you will never forget to maintain your system. sign up at rid-x.com.

♪ just put a little bit of yourself ♪ ♪ in everything you do ♪ [ female announcer ] add your own ingredients to hamburger helper for a fresh take on a quick, delicious meal. it's one box with hundreds of possibilities. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any

time, this is the "bill press show". live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: judd legum from think progress in the next hour. in addition we'll be talking with congressman frank pallone from new jersey. on the point of the impact of the storm on the election, glen suggests you think a right winger is going to accuse the obama administration of creating hurricane sandy by seeding the clouds with a drone? i wouldn't put it past them. sounds like something one of those wing nuts would say. mara little says should we follow the advice of mr. romney and mr. paul and do away with big government and defund and do away with fema? better yet can we just dump them in the middle of new york city and advise them to let the state alone, take care of things. if sandy doesn't illustrate their poor thinking, nothing will.

exactly.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. great to see you this morning on this tuesday october 30. sandy has struck and moved on and we survived. meanwhile, on the campaign trail, it is the biggest whopper of the campaign so far. after telling the auto industry to go belly up and opposing any federal relief, mitt romney is now claiming that he -- not president obama saved g.m. and chrysler. can you believe it?

mitt romney ought to burn in hell for that lie. he keeps telling it. we'll tell you why that's wrong and a whole lot more here plus bring you all of the latest on the impact of hurricane sandy. right here on the "full court press." but first, we take a little time out as always to get the latest, today's current news update from lisa ferguson standing by in los angeles. good morning lisa. >> hey bill. good morning everyone. hurricane sandy not only is taking an impact on the east coast but it is also putting a twist in the political schedule today. we are just one week out from the election. neither candidate is campaigning as planned. president obama is staying in d.c. to monitor the storm and help prep for any disaster relief. mitt romney is also putting a stop to his events saying it is out of sensitivity for the millions of people in sandy's path. romney did have events scheduled today in ohio but now he's telling the state not only to support the east coast during the storm but also to support the entire country by electing him as president.

if we did have a romney presidency, disaster relief could be very different. during a primary debate earlier this season, romney seemed to be absolutely in favor of shutting fema down. now that we are in the middle of a natural disaster, he says no. he wouldn't shut it down. he would just send more power to the states. fema is already bracing for relief efforts once hurricane sandy clears out. more than 1500 staff are positioned along the east coast to help with search and rescue and logistical support. thankfully for those on the east coast, fema has nearly $8 billion available for disaster relief. but during last year's budget deal paul ryan designed a bill that would have gotten rid of some emergency funding. he instead wanted money to go toward the military. that bill passed the house without a single democratic vote. but it never made it to the senate. more bill press is coming up after the break. we're live in chat. current.com/billpress. hope to see you there.

now? you know the kind of guys who do like reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all of the time now. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers, thinking. >> okay, so there is wiggle-room in the ten commandments, is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and the best part is that current will let me say anything. >> what the hell were they thinking? >> only on current tv. brought to you by geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. visit geico.com for a free rate quote.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hurricane sandy struck. we survived. hurricane sandy moved on. hello, everybody. what do you say? it is the "full court press." on this tuesday, october 30. great to see you today. if you were in the hurricane's path, hope you survived as well. with minimal damage to you or your loved ones or your property. we've got a lot to talk about

particularly about how the storm impacts this election. coming up one week from today. will all of the polling places be able to open? will people have power? will some people stay home just because they've got too much else to worry about? like getting the trees taken care of that fell down on their property or whatever. and who does it hurt? terms of having the cancel -- having to cancel campaign events. does it hurt more, mitt romney or barack obama. all kinds of impacts of this election. we'll bring you all of those -- all of the various iterations of that and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. find out how it impacts you. you can also join us don't forget, on twitter at bpshow. on facebook. facebook.com/billpressshow. and the current chat room is very lively this morning. go to current.com. check the chat room and join

your friends across the land. fellow "full court pressers." we have the full team here this morning. again, storm doesn't stop us. peter ogborn and dan henning with cyprian bowlding on the cameras and phil backert on the phones. here we go, guys. >> we made it in. >> good morning. >> bill: the team here. by the way the team, campaign team for president obama a little change of character yesterday. president obama pulling out so he could get back to the white house and deal with the storm. that left vice president joe biden and former president bill clinton to go to ohio. >> youngstown, ohio. >> bill: of course, youngstown ohio. the vice president saying hey he's sorry he's not here but he's on it. >> he asked me to express his regrets for not being able to be here but you know, he's doing the job the president should be

doing. [ cheering ] >> bill: absolutely. and former president bill clinton said i told barack you go back and get to work. >> goat up this morning and called me. he said i gotta go back. this storm is getting out of hand. i said mr. president, that is the right call. [ cheering ] >> bill: that's just what i would have done. all right. in new jersey, which was really hammered by hurricane sandy congressman frank pallone will join us here at the top of the hour. david shuster is in new york. current tv's david shuster will give us the report from lower manhattan. judd legum from think progress will be along as well to talk about the mitt romney ad taking credit for the auto bailout. but first -- >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. the entertainment industry took a big hit because of hurricane

sandy. every single tv show that's based in new york city airing on nbc, abc and cbs and several cable networks have halted production since sunday including all of the late night comedy shows. over 20 shows in all. all braid way shows have been canceled until further notice. a couple of major movies also stopped because of the storm. >> bill: movie theatres, do they just shut down? >> a lot of movie theatres shut down too. people wouldn't go out. >> that's a good point. i didn't think about that. i didn't even think about trying to go out to a movie theatre yesterday. >> martin sheen an avid obama supporter had harsh words for mitt romney in a new interview with the huffing "the huffington post." he said romney is nothing but arrogant, a successful businessman who does not have a clue what 99% of the people are going through. on romney's debate performance sheen said mr. romney showed his rear end there using a different word. how stupid he is referring to the old phrase arrogance is

ignorance matured. >> bill: wow. martin sheen is one of the best presidents we ever had though. >> that is right. >> bill, you told america to see argo and they did. it has been in theatres for three weeks but made it to number one this past weekend. >> bill: word of mouth got that movie up there. >> $12.4 million. it beat the debut of tom hanks' new movie cloud atlas. >> how horrible does that look? >> $100 million movie made less than $10 million for third place in its opening weekend. >> because it was horrible. >> bill: that's going to go down down, down. argo will continue to go up. >> i'm telling everyone to go see argo. i got my wife to see it with a couple of her friends. it is fantastic. >> bill: i've done my share. >> exactly. >> bill: i'll tell you again. it is -- first of all what's amazing to me about this story is that i didn't know about that

story. as much as i follow the news. i didn't remember reading anything at all. but it is incredible story. and a phenomenal movie. argo. go see it. right now. it is not argo, not -- but sandy we've been dealing with. new york and new jersey both got hammered hard by sandy. representing some of the hard-hit areas congressman frank pallone joins us on our news line this morning. hey, congressman, thanks for your time this morning. >> sure. >> bill: new jersey was really ground zero for this storm wasn't it? and tell us what you know about how the impact on your state. >> well, the impact was severe, as you know. many of my towns were evacuated including my hometown. i was evacuated. we also have -- we have no power. here where i am in long branch. and many of the towns have lost

power. so i'm very concerned about downed power lines and people not going out or trying to deal with this -- i think they still should be staying inside as much as possible until the storm finally passes out. passes away. and then we're going to do assessments about what the damage is as people are allowed to come back. but i know that there's very severe flooding in a lot of the coastal areas. belmar seabright highlands talked to some of the mayors about it. so it's not over yet. we're going to have to try to get some obviously federal help in fema and other agencies to help businesses. >> bill: have there been any properties damaged or -- i'm sure there has been. to what extent? >> well, there's -- there

definitely has been in some of the flooded areas. homes have been destroyed. and businesses that have been damaged severely. but you know, we're going to have to do those assessments over the next few days. >> bill: you congressman touched on, i think the critical question here and that is -- which i believe sandy sort of sums up what this election is all about which is what is the proper role of government. i would like to get your comment on that. i found it interesting yesterday that governor chris christie went out of his way to say some good things about president obama. here is a quick clip. >> i appreciate that call from the president. he was very proactive. i appreciate that type of leadership and i appreciate the president's telephone call and if we do need something i've got the number and i'll be sure to use it. >> bill: the president was there on the side of the people of new jersey in this disaster,

correct? >> oh, absolutely no question. look the government is important. you're talking about the importance of government and government's role, you know, i believe it is an important government role, not only in disasters and emergencies like this but in general in terms of trying to get our economy back. i think that that may be one of the -- a big difference between democrats and republicans. democrats really believe that you know, that the private sector needs the government help. but i think everyone whether you're democrat or republican would agree that in this type of emergency that the government is important. we have to work together. >> bill: one would think that everyone would agree but of course, back in june 2011 in the republican primary debate, mitt romney said disaster relief should be not the role of the federal government. it should be the role of 50 states. >> that doesn't make any sense. i mean look, i don't know how -- let me give you a perfect

example with the beach replenishment. i expect we're going to have to have some additional future replenishment in the aftermath of sandy. and you know, in new jersey, for example, and throughout the country, the federal government pays 65% of the cost of beach replenishment and the towns i mention to you long branch, seabright, monmouth beach have had that. they wouldn't be able to do it on their own. they're too small. the state wouldn't be able to pay that kind of -- the. >> eliot: of federal funding. those projects just wouldn't get done if they had to be done strictly by the state or the local governments. so you know, mitt romney is simply wrong about that. >> bill: that's a great example. i didn't realize -- we have a place over across the river in den which can island, delaware but last -- i never knew who paid for it but it was a big beach, sand replenishment

project there. not so long ago. >> exactly. >> bill: just north of ocean city. an important role for the federal government. congressman, i don't know whether you've seen the new york time the but i thought their lead ettorial summed it up. the headline is a big storm requires big government. that says it all doesn't it? >> well, it's true. i think that for the most part, you know, i understand that romney made that statement. he's clearly wrong. but i think that most democrats and republicans that i know in new jersey would certainly be in favor of you know, the federal role in beach replenishment. that may show just how out of touch romney is. he and many of the republicans wouldn't agree with him on that. >> bill: i think eric cantor may agree with him and maybe paul ryan, too. his budget actually -- cut the

funding for fema. in your dealings with fema and craig fugate, what kind of marks do you give them, congressmen? >> fema does a pretty good job to be honest. if i have to look at what was done in the aftermath of irene just as an example i think people were generally pleased with -- you know, with the results and with fema. i know a lot of times they get beat up because obviously when somebody comes in the middle of a disaster, you know, there's a lot of decisions that have to be made on the spot and sometimes they don't seem to be the right ones but i think overall fema does a good job. >> bill: are they responsive when you contact them regarding particular problems in your district? >> oh, absolutely. and we're going to really need them after this storm. no question about that. the other thing i should mention, too, is that when we do

a lot of the beach replenishment projects or other federal projects with the army corps i think people don't realize a lot of it is -- you know, is preventives. in other words, in a place like seabright or monmouth beach if you didn't have the sand, the hurricane's consequences would be a lot worse. >> bill: right. >> so it is also preventive measure and it prevents -- it saves money because you don't have to do as much in the aftermath of the storm as you would have if the sand hadn't been there. >> bill: yeah, just like the new levees around the city of new orleans protecting them. >> exactly. >> bill: congressman you've got to find out what's going on in your district. a lot of work ahead of you. this is the aftermath of the storm. but we appreciate your taking time out for us this morning. thanks very much for your time. good to talk to you. >> you too. take care. >> bill: congressman frank pallone representing new jersey's sixth congressional

district. sandy pushed him out of his own house. he's not packed yet. they don't have power. we'll be right back on today's "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.

en current tv encourages you to vote on november 6th but just as importantly to take the time to learn about each candidate's stance on the issues that matter to you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup.

only on current tv. vote smart. our democracy depends on an informed electorate. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: 24 minutes after the hour. here we go. back to storm coverage and other issues in just a minute here on the "full court press".

a little reminder, we hear from a lot of people, a lot of you who -- times are tough. hard time making things -- making ends meet at the end of the month. here's something you ought to consider incomeathome.com. depends on how much money you need to earn. each extra month. incomeathome.com can help. they're america's leading work from home business and this is something you can do no matter your age education or experience. you can literally earn money on your own computer. your own laptop from your own kitchen table 24/7. but you never know unless you check it out. if you're sick of living paycheck to paycheck, worried about job security or retirement, if your goal is to earn extra money from home, part-time or full time, incomeathome.com. they're adding my listeners in record numbers. even giving away $1,000 to somebody just for checking them out. that could be you. visit incomeathome.com. that's incomeathome.com. in the middle of the interview

with congressman frank pallone about the situation in his home state of new jersey, i got a text from my sister in my home state of delaware -- >> okay. >> bill: northern delaware. i told you about the beach house in fenwick island where i know we were flooded family beach house. in northern delaware and delaware city where i grew up, my sister texting they've got water all the way up to the back bedroom of their house. not inside yet i don't believe. her message is send fema. craig fugate, if you're listening, get your guys up to delaware city. >> there you go. get to work. >> bill: what's up on twit summer. >> a couple of things i wanted to point out. please please be careful of your sources on twitter. twitter is great. we love twitter. lots of people putting out things that either are not true, things that they heard that they thought are true and also people who are just trying to be funny and pranksters and having people

buy into it. at one point last night several outlets reporting that the new york stock exchange had three feet of water on the floor. that was not true. but just please be careful. >> bill: they are closed again today. >> they are, in fact, closed. this is the first time that it's been closed for two days in a row due to a weather event since the 1800s. that's how long it's been. chris christie just spoke to new jersey. said he talked to obama at midnight. chris christie said "the president has been excellent through this situation." the latest is 13 states plus the district of columbia anywhere between nine million and six and a half million people without power. please, if you do not have power and you have a generator, you have to keep your generator outside. don't bring the generator inside. there have already been a couple of people reported to having brought their generator inside. >> bill: then fires.

>> then carbon monoxide poisoning will get you. be smart. there are lots of resources out there. listen to your radio. that's a great source of information even when you have no power. a battery operated radio can go far. >> bill: chris christie talked to obama at midnight. bob, what's your point? >> caller: hey, bill. i was wondering first of all you're great. i like listening to you every morning on the way to work. >> bill: thank you. >> caller: with the election five days away now -- >> bill: seven. >> caller: seven days, okay. what's going to happen if they don't get power to all of the polling places? and don't you think the election is kind of like frozen now? the election is over? >> bill: bob yes. there could be some problems with polling places. we talked about that earlier. i think it is frozen. obama's going to win. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

successful democracy depended on an informed electorate. our country's future depends on you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. take the time to learn about the issues. don't just vote, vote smart.

>> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. tuesday, october 30. the day after hurricane sandy or maybe the first day of cleanup after hurricane sandy. we all survived and i hope all of you did too. 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. join the conversation here on the "full court press" at any time. we're coming to you live from our nation's capital. a wet and soggy nation's capital. and brought to you today by the international brotherhood of

teamsters. yes, we all live better thanks to the great work of the men and women of the teamsters union under president jim hoffa building a better america. you can check out their good work at teamster.org. this is tuesday. tuesdays with judd. usually judd legum is sitting right here in studio with us. the metro is still not open. judd legum joins us on the news line. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: how are you doing? >> good. how are you? >> bill: we're missing you. we hear the metro may open as early as noon today. so things will get back -- >> do you have power judd? >> i have power yes. >> all right. >> but it hasn't been too rough to weather the storm at least. i'm one of the lucky ones. >> bill: all right. so judd, think progress, judd

legum, editor in chief of think progress. think progress was all over this ad that suddenly the romney campaign realizing they're losing in ohio because of the -- mitt romney's opposition to the auto bailout. they came out with this ad, want to play it for you then have you tear it apart for us piece by piece. here's the romney -- taking credit for saving the auto industry. >> who will do more for the auto industry? not barack obama. fact checks confirm his attacks on mitt romney are false. the truth? mitt romney has a plan to help the auto industry. he supported by lee iacocca and the detroit news. obama took g.m. and chrysler into bankruptcy and sold chrysler to italians who will build jeeps in china. mitt romney will fight for every american job. >> romney: i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> bill: how about a little fact checking on that ad, judd? >> yeah. it is really, i think probably

the most dishonest ad we've seen this campaign cycle. at least at the presidential level. >> bill: which is saying something, isn't it? >> it is saying something. is it it starts off right at the beginning when mitt romney says i have a plan to help the auto industry. and as it turns out he has no plan. there's nothing on his web site and actually reporters have followed up and they've said could you send us a copy of the plan. and there is no plan. no one's gotten anything. so i guess it is just the idea that -- saying you have a plan is more important than actually having a plan. >> bill: also when he says i have a plan for 12 million new jobs and we haven't seen the plan yet either. on the auto industry, it is kind of late after g.m. and chrysler are already back, right? already back on their feet making bigger profits than ever before and better cars than ever before. it is kind of late to say hey

wait, i got a plan. right? >> right. especially if we would have followed mitt romney's suggestions with the auto industry, they wouldn't be around to -- there would be no ability to have a plan to help them because they wouldn't exist anymore. that's the -- the reality is that he wanted private financing only to get them through bankruptcy and there was no private financing. that would have meant that the companies never would have come out of bankruptcy. >> bill: steve ratner, in charge of the auto industry at the time, the federal response said if we had taken mitt romney's approach, right and depended only on private financing, the g.m. and chrysler would have died. they would have been gone. they would have had to liquidate. there would have been no coming back at all. so it was a difference between saving them and destroying them. mitt romney was for destroying them. what about the claim judd, that

chrysler now we brought it back and now they're moving all of their jeep operations to china. and building the jeeps in china? >> this is something that he's been saying on the campaign trail as well. and it is just not true. what's happening is because of the demand for the jeep in china, they're considering opening it up to build jeeps for chinese customers. but there's no plans to limit or to move any production from the united states to china. so it's very disingenuous. it is slightly less dishonest than what he has been saying on the trail. which is that they're moving the production. but it is still very dishonest. i think -- >> bill: the implication is that he wants people to believe

that chrysler is shutting down plants in the u.s., moving the plants and the jobs to china to build the jeep in china. chrysler itself has put out a statement condemning mitt romney for making that charge and saying it is categorically not true. correct? >> that's right. i think that this is what happens when you're just a couple of weeks out -- a week out from the election is that -- >> bill: you lie. >> maybe we can get away with it or maybe there's so much noise and there's so much activity that it's more important to try to get this message out. i do think it shows the power of this issue particularly in key states like ohio. that romney's willing to take a gamble. putting out an ad that everyone knows is making this implication

that is totally not true because they need to do something to try to change the i couldn't nammic -- change the dynamic of voters perceive him in ohio. >> i think it shows a little bit of where the romney campaign think that they are. that they have to have a hail mary pass like this. but what is their defense of the ad been up until now? have they had any defense? >> well, i think that their defense of the ad is that well, they don't technically say that the production is moving. they did say they're going to produce jeeps in china. and so they did i think alter the claim somewhat based on the criticism that romney got from his stump when he started mentioning -- but i don't think it really holds up because the implication from anyone who is watching is clear that they're going to move this production from the united states to china. they're relying on sort of the

literal interpretation of the ad which is hey we said that jeeps will be made in china. >> bill: exactly. i think the fact checkers caught them at it too. we're talking with judd legum editor in chief of think progress. as we tell you often, think progress, one of the main sources of information and just good information on -- that we depend on here on the "full court press." and you can follow their work at think progress -- thinkprogress.org. so judd, for all practical purposes, hurricane sandy has shut down the presidential campaign at least for a couple of days. who does that help and who does that hurt? do you think? >> well, i think that you know, i think there's sort of two ways this cuts. one, president obama has a very

effective early vote campaign. you saw big numbers turning up for him. places like ohio, in florida so i think it hurts president obama in the sense that it does interrupt that process. they've got a huge operation to get people out early voting in key states. on the other hand, i do think if you look at the polling there is -- there is a narrow lead for obama in a lot of these key swing states. and it seems like it would have the effect of freezing the race at least for a period of time as people just focus on other stuff, you know. focus on -- getting their power back or recovering from damage or whatever else. certainly fills up a lot of the news. so i think it kind of cuts both ways but if you buy into the

idea that really mitt romney is the one who needs to make something happen here in the last week, i don't think this is what he really wants to see. >> bill: i would add one other factor which is, in the meantime, mitt romney is twiddling his thumbs and president obama is on national television and doing his job. and he's not just talking about it on television. he's actually doing his job. and going to fema headquarters and meeting with fema's leadership. making sure all of the pieces are in place and talking to all of the governors republican and democratic governors signing emergency declarations and is really the man in charge of the federal response to fema which certainly helps put him in a new light. judd, good to talk with you as always. we look forward to welcome youing back into the studio next tuesday. election day. election day! election day judd next tuesday. thanks, judd legum. editor in chief of think progress. here in the "full court press."

more about -- we have to talk more about -- because i think there is another really much, much much more important impact of hurricane sandy on this presidential election. i think hurricane sandy makes the best argument for the re-election of president obama that we have seen in the last two years. hurricane sandy proves it. we'll talk about that when we come back. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up.

how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... >> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv.

>> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. mark levine will be here as a "friend of bill" in the next hour. we'll be joined by "buzzfeed"'s senior political reporter chris geidner. we're talking about the impact of hurricane -- hurricane sandy on this election and there will be -- there's some direct impact. events have been canceled. there is another direct impact in the sense of early voting has been canceled in many states. pardon me. at least for a couple of days. there may be some impact on polling places because power is out. people are going to be busy. some polling places have been destroyed. lots of impacts the bigger one i think is on the message of the campaign. first, peter what's happening on twitter? >> on that point one person tweeting said don't forget, if we were to privatize the first responders and give it to halliburton, don't you know they would make a nice little profit off of all of the disasters.

>> bill: imagine what they would charge to go out after the hms bounty sinking and they had to rescue the people. this is -- this requires more -- even more money. gimme, gimme gimme. >> elaine tweeting at bp show, wind and rain still howling here in lake erie. almost apocalyptic. this show is a sane alternative for us normal people. one person in the dayton, ohio, area tweeted because romney has an event scheduled a campaign event scheduled today in dayton, hoirks one person saying on local tv, the g.o.p. official out there says that the romney event in dayton this morning "is not a campaign event per se". so i'm not sure exactly what he's doing there if it's not a campaign event in ohio. >> bill: if mitt romney is in ohio first of all, it is because they can't take him anyplace else. he's piggybacking on previously-scheduled paul ryan

events in remote places or suburban places and not where they're going to get big crowds. wasting his time and by the way he is campaigning. so you know what? >> what else is he doing? >> bill: let's do a split screen of romney out campaigning and president obama on the white house or mitt romney out campaigning and people digging out their homes right? in southern new jersey or southern delaware. big mistake on mitt romney's part. back to the message and then back to your calls. here's what i think -- what's important to focus on here. and to understand. when you think about what the message of hurricane sandy is, it is that there are -- this sums up the difference. let me put it this way between barack obama and mitt romney because the central question here is the role of government. and president obama believes and understands the reality that there are certain times when the federal government is absolutely necessary to get the job

certain jobs done. mitt romney doesn't get it. mitt romney believes that everything is better done if you let the private sector or the states handle it. across the board. medicaid, give it to the states. medicare, give it to the private insurance companies. give you a voucher and depend on the private insurance companies. education, give it to the states. auto bailout american auto industry no. no role for the federal government. he said. let the private market handle it. even disaster relief, mitt romney has said the federal government has no role in disaster relief. it ought to be left up to the 50 states. that means no fema. that means every one of the states goes in a totally different direction. that would be a monumental disaster. and most republican governors would agree with that. chris christie, for example in new jersey who has been praising the work that president obama has done in this campaign.

so -- in this hurricane. that is the key difference between barack obama and mitt romney and it shows why mitt romney's entire approach to governing is wrong. >> literally just moments ago on a different morning show, governor chris christie saying "the president's been all over this. he deserves great credit." from chris christie. >> bill: yeah, hello, mitt romney. garth is calling from antioch california. garth, good morning. >> caller: good morning, bill. how you doing? >> bill: i'm doing good. talk to me. >> caller: get back to what you were saying. the whole thing is -- this makes the strongest case for obama. >> bill: i really do believe that. >> caller: we're going to come help you. what are we going to get for it? what do we get out of it? the first responders, we have cities out here that are -- they didn't get the federal help, god forbid, something like that happened out here, we would be

just lost. >> bill: look, we don't have so much of the hurricane problem in california but we have the earthquakes and how many times -- i remember how many earthquakes have we been through in northern california and southern california, i have, what's the first thing the governor does or the cities do. they turn to fema for help. for emergency responders that they're able to bring in from other states. first responders. and then for the rebuilding effort. for the protection against them. disaster relief, you would think that everybody would understand that disaster relief -- okay, maybe you don't really like a big federal government but there is a role for the federal government in disaster relief. the fact that mitt romney doesn't see that to me shows how -- just how shortsighted he is. what a captive of the hate government tea party he is. and how dangerous his message is. and how dangerous it would be to have him in the white house. there would be no more fema.

no more fema. he wouldn't do what george bush did and put it in the bowels of some other agency. he would destroy the whole thing because he says we don't need it. don't trust this guy. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." jack you're a little boring. boring. boring.

thomas jefferson said that a successful democracy depended on an informed electorate. our country's future depends on you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup.

only on current tv. take the time to learn about the issues. don't just vote, vote smart. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. 25 minutes after the hour. the "full court press" on this tuesday, october 30, the day after hurricane sandy. the day before halloween. and one week before the big election. don't forget that. not just a storm going on. there is still an election going on. mark levine, talk show host, "friend of bill" this hour. peter, what's happening on twit summer. >> quick note because we mentioned at the top of the show

some of our web sites we go to and use for some of our information were down, that are new york-based. "the huffington post" is back up although in limited capacity. they have a note that says due to power outages caused by superstorm sandy our wen web site is experiencing technical difficulties. we're working to get the site back to normal. they have a bear bones situation -- a bare bones situation going on. sites are coming back up. on twitter we're tweeting at bp show. shelley brown says the president made the right decision to coordinate government action from the white house. here is our national leader in the face of a national disaster. >> bill: he's on it. he's on the job. by the way obama campaign announcing this morning president bill clinton will be campaigning today in commerce city colorado, and denver, colorado. and vice president biden on friday will be going to wisconsin for his next campaign trip. so the election -- even if there are no campaign events scheduled

for obama and romney, mark, what do you make of the national polls that show romney and obama tied? >> first of all, they don't matter obviously at the end of the day. it is interesting to look at but we have electoral college. president obama is ahead in the electoral college. it works out something like this. i think he wins all of the states plus wisconsin and nevada that gets him to 253. he only needs 17 electoral votes. ohio has 18. it is conceivable that romney could win ohio. it seems unlikely. he's ahead in all of the polls. pretty much all the undecideds have to go to romney. that's where my home state of virginia comes in. because we're the ohio replacement if ohio is the most important state in the united states -- >> bill: virginia is number two. >> absolutely number two. all you need is virginia plus one. 17 electoral votes. virginia is 13 plus new hampshire is 4. i think he's well ahead in new hampshire and iowa.

new hampshire and iowa alone can't do it. colorado becomes number three. new hampshire, iowa and colorado just make enough. >> bill: several ways for him to get there. the problem for mitt romney -- mitt romney needs all of them. >> again florida obama could tbhib florida and the race is over. we don't have to worry about ohio and virginia. romney has to win florida and ohio and virginia. north carolina he'll probably win and he's gotta win one of iowa, new hampshire and colorado. >> bill: so the edge right now -- >> electorally -- which is what elects the president. even though i hate the electoral college but it is what it is. >> bill: it is the only count that counts. he's ahead. to the extent that this storm rather locks anything in place -- >> i actually would have thought -- obama wins the popular vote as well. >> bill: hey we're going to come back and talk to chris geidner from "buzzfeed." stick with us. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

>> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press >> announcer: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour now. here we go. the "full court press." it is tuesday october 30, good to have you with us. mark levine is in studio as a "friend of bill" here this hour. and we'll be right back to the news of the day and talking with chris geidner from "buzzfeed." first, saw this story that caught my attention out of boston.com. how about this. a bank had to tell customers two

of it encrypted back-up tapes which contained information on customers including social security numbers and bank account numbers had disappeared in transit. oops. well, that reminds you how prevalent identity theft is and how important it is to protect yourself against it. i've done so with what's called lifelock ultimate, the most comprehensive i.d. theft protection out there. even includes your bank accounts. but of course, lifelock can't protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call now and mention press 60 and you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy give them a call within 60 days and cancel and they'll give you a full refund. give them a call at 1-888- 1-888-356-5967. mark as you know, we've been

talking about the big difference between mitt romney and barack obama in terms of the role of government. and big example here, the role of federal government with fema in responding to hurricane sandy. another big difference is on their approach to issues affecting the lgbt community, particularly same-sex marriage or marriage equality. chris christie. >> good morning. >> bill: good to have you with us. you couldn't get into the studio this morning. >> i'm getting a feedback. can we -- >> we'll try to get him back on the line here i think. >> bill: from an engineering point of view. thank you. i know a little secret. >> bill: dan have you mixed the mix minus? >> it should be fixed. chris? >> hello.

ibm i think we've fixed it. all right now chris, the latest -- difference or -- window into what mitt romney really thinks about some of the lgbt issues just came to light. i want to play that clip for you. this is mitt romney giving a speech down in south carolina when he's governor of massachusetts. back in 2005. here he goes. >> it is -- our society is supposed to be indifferent about whether children have a mother and a father. today, same-sex couples are marrying under the law in massachusetts. some are actually having children born to them. we've been asked to change their birth certificates to remove the phrase mother and father and replace it with parent a and parent b. it is not right on paper. it is not right in fact. every child has the right to have a mother and a father.

[ applause ] >> bill: first of all chris is that the same thing he was saying in massachusetts? and what does that mean? >> yeah, this -- this idea of when he was running for president, the run-up to the 2008 run he was really taking advantage of showing his -- to the conservative community. remember this was a speech in south carolina. and he talked about this issue that "the boston globe" had finally gotten some documents from -- during his governorship recently and ran a story last week that he really pressed very hard to keep from changing the actual bit certificates in

massachusetts to reference a second parent as opposed to mother and father. and this -- it wasn't clear that he had been bragging about this as much publicly as this video shows he did. >> bill: the idea is if -- let's say it is two men who adopt a child. in that situation they're both the parents and there is a father and a father there. is not a father and a mother so i mean he's just lying -- or asking them to lie. >> what they would actually do is for birth certificates was to have them scratch -- literally scratch out on the birth certificate and then put a name and this "boston globe" report noted that when they had been doing that, they told romney that there was some

concern that by just doing that that there would be questions later in people's lives about the authenticity and whether or not it had been altered. >> think about any adoption. any time you have an adoption, you have the parents, the parents of the child not being the birth parents. that happens all the time. if you're going to be consistent, you would have to scratch the adopted parents off and put the original birth mother who probably doesn't want her name in there anyway because she's giving up her child for adoption. every child has a father and mother. some kids are born without a father and this whole idea that if you change reality if you pretend it's not so, it won't be so. don't allow a place for the realities of life and they won't happen. maybe gay people won't have kids if you have to scratch out the name on the birth certificate. >> bill: go ahead chris. >> if you listen to that, the quotes that sort of seems to me

to almost be more showing of where his mindset was at least at that point was was when he says they're actually having children. >> i caught that too. >> oh, my god! gay people can have kids? i didn't know! maybe it is biologically possible? talk to todd akin. >> whether it is his actual view. it is like playing into that audience. rather extreme way. >> bill: where does he stand -- where does he stand on the issue of marriage equality? do we know? >> depends on who he's talking to. if he's talking to a gay audience -- he never supported marriage equality. >> marriage equality is the one -- the one thing for better or worse where he has been fairly consistent. >> bill: he's against it, right? >> is against it and is in favor of a constitutional amendment to the u.s. constitution that would

prevent it. >> basically negate any states that has it. >> here's the thing about mitt romney. when he ran against ted kennedy he said i'm going to be better on gay rights than ted kennedy. it is such a laughable thing. he's said so many things to so many people. i've been talking to the people in massachusetts who were around when he was governor. the moment he got into office, he was running for president. he quit caring about massachusetts. he understood the democratic legislature had more than a veto-proof majority. they could do whatever they wanted. he started running for president. remember he didn't run for re-election in massachusetts. he was down 20 and 30 points in the polls if he did. so he was smart i guess not to do it. he was running in south carolina to be president of the united states. his whole term as massachusetts for the people tell me there everyone who understand it was to put something on his resume. he never held elected office before. very rich capital speculator and

then he goes in to get that on his resume. and he's already off in south carolina. this is just another example of depending on the crowd mitt romney's talking to, you know what's coming out of his mouth. what he has inside, i don't know. i think he just wants the president. >> bill: so chris, last time we talked, the log cabin rip cans had not endorsed mitt romney. and now they have. why? just base he's a republican even though he's bad on every one of their issues? he doesn't even support don't ask, don't tell. >> that's true. >> they have said that he he wouldn't have done it at the time but they have held off and even paul ryan said that that's a done deal. >> bill: thanks a lot for that right? >> yeah. the endorsements, it appears was

based on the -- some total of it was we don't believe that he actually is going to do anything about this federal marriage amendment and we -- >> vote for mitt romney. he won't act on his beliefs. man of no convictions. vote for mitt romney. >> that's exactly what they say. >> there's nothing. that's actually a reason why they endorsed him. >> bill: i'll tell you man it is -- i'm glad -- >> the one part that they have said is they talked with -- that they did talk with them. jim kolbe former representative from arizona and that they believe that they can work with him on -- on discrimination

issues. >> bill: b.s. >> you know i used to work for barney frank. we met many, many gay republicans and there is a certain -- there is a certain -- around the gay republican who so much wants to be accepted by people who really, really hate him or her. and it is just -- it is kind of sad to watch. >> bill: chris geidner you're on the case as always. senior political reporter for "buzzfeed." we'll be right back with the "full court press." mark levine here as a "friend of bill" and we're going to check in with "the washington post" weather capital gang -- capital weather gang when we come back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." i'm actually looking at the wood grilled chicken with portobello wine sauce. let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now.

[ male announcer ] red lobster's hitting the streets to tell real people about our new 15 under $15 menu. oh my goodness! oh my gosh this looks amazing! that's a good deal! [ man ] wow! it is so good! [ male announcer ] our new maine stays! 15 entrees under $15 oo! the tilapia with roasted vegetables! i'm actually looking at the wood grilled chicken with portobello wine sauce. you so fascinated by the prices, you keep rambling on! i know! -that pork chop was great! -no more fast food friday's! so we gotta go! we're going to go to red lobster. yep. [ male announcer ] try our 15 under $15 menu and sea food differently!

♪ ♪ the trucks are going farther. the new 2013 ram 1500. ♪ ♪ with the best-in-class fuel economy. engineered to move heaven and earth. ♪ ♪ guts. glory. ram.

the one time it's okay for you to miss my show is if that's the only time you can get to a polling place. make sure that voting is your highest priority on election day. besides, you can always dvr my show. you really cant' dvr the future of the country. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. so vote and vote smart.

>> announcer: this is the "bill >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. you got it. 12 minutes now before the top of the hour here on tuesday october 30. yep, we all survived hurricane sandy somehow. but it was a lot easier here in this washington area than other parts of the east coast for sure. mark levine, fellow talk show host here as a "friend of bill" this hour. and we go back to finding out exactly what happened with sandy and where it goes now. jason is the weather editor for "the washington post." you probably didn't even know that. >> i didn't know they had a weather editor. >> member of the capital weather gang. jason, good to you have back. >> good morning. >> bill: we were saying earlier compared to other areas of the east coast washington didn't get hammered too bad by hurricane sandy right? >> we dodged the bullet a little

bit here. peak winds were about 60 miles per hour. we were predicting a range of 60 to 80. we were op the low end in terms of wind gusts here. that made a big difference. if we had been up to 70 or 80, we would have seen a lot more trees down and a lot more power outages. about 100,000 people without power. nothing to sneeze at. we've had four to eight inches of rain. potomac river is going to crest tomorrow afternoon. heist level since '96. we still aren't done with this. more wind and rain today. >> bill: peter ogborn is one of those without power. >> we have power now by the way. there were the winds that sort of freaked everybody out but then with the rain, there was so much rain. i actually went out back and took a quick measurement. 37 feet of water in the backyard this morning. >> what? >> literally. i'm not making that up. i'm not making that up. >> 37 inches of water. >> nope, feet.

>> bill: you have to understand, he's the mitt romney. >> i'm learning these things. >> where else has there been flooding? is it going to affect anything else besides the river? >> small stream. rock creek has had some -- a little bit of flooding here and there and other small streams and creeks in the region. there's been -- obviously some flooding of low-lying areas. basement flooding, that sort of thing. this hasn't been a massive flooding event. the rain came steadily. it was over a course of -- you know now over 24 hours. >> i'm getting worried. if he says it is the worst since 1996 because hurricane isabel, i moved here in 2001 and isabel came within a few feet of my door because i live near the potomac so -- is this going to be worse than isabel? >> this is different. in isabel, you had a tidal surge up the bay and up -- which was over nine feet. this is water flowing downstream from all of the rain which is

collected in the -- in our area. >> it won't be as bad as isabel then. >> not at all. so today, water levels on the potomac from the tidal surge may rise a few feet. >> bill: you know, we were talking with ray stagich from the weather channel earlier this morning. said that for him this storm is unique in his experience because -- what really struck him about this storm as opposed to any other storm is that it's rain on one side of it and snow on the other side. same storm. >> people of north carolina said they've never gotten snow before. they were getting snow. >> bill: jason we're getting snow in virginia. west virginia for sure. right? >> that's right. and in fact, western maryland, i saw a report of over 18 inches of snow this morning. that's in garrett county, just incredible. this is two years -- late

october. very rare. you usually don't get huge storms. you basically had a hurricane dumping snow. it was a transitioning hurricane into more of a nor'easter type system but sort of an exceptional situation. blizzard warnings still in effect for central virginia up through south central p.a. >> i think it's great we're getting our forecast from the book of revelations this morning. >> but don't worry, climate change is not a reality. >> bill: in terms of power outage, did you say about 200,000 here in the washington area still. is that right? >> yeah, i think -- they were looking at the tracker for the d.c. area, down to about 160. it all depends on what you define the d.c. area as. of course, across nationwide, i've seen totals over seven million which is just incredible. >> why was it so much worse for the d.c. area? winds had higher speeds than 60

miles per hour? >> we were seeing gusts at 65 to 80 in that event. it was like hitting on a light switch. it was all at once. one big blow. extreme situation. we thought -- we thought gusts might get close to that high. fortunately, they didn't. because if they had, it would have been a lot worse. >> bill: we weathered the storm in large part. thanks to you jason. we give you credit. thanks so much. thanks for your time this morning. >> thanks so much. >> bill: jason samenow. you can follow them at capital weather. he's the weather editor of "the washington post." hey, mark, your first time in studio. loved it. >> i loved it. bring me back. i got a lot more to tell you as you know. >> bill: thanks for coming in. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. thank you bill. >> bill: i'll wrap it up with a parting shot when we come back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

cook what you love and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. on this tuesday october 30, my parting shot for today. nobody's talking about it anymore but there still is a big election. one week from today. and democrats have to stop panicking every time they see a national tracking poll that shows this election to be a dead heat. first of all, a little reminder, that's not how we elect a president. there is not a national referendum. we elect presidents state by state. and that's looking good for obama. no matter what you think about the electoral college. by "huffington post" count obama has 277 electoral votes to

romney's 206. colorado florida virginia and new hampshire are still tossup states. according to the "new york times," obama has 243 electoral votes to romney's 206. but as calculated by nate silver, author of the 538 blog who called 49 out of 50 states correctly in 2008, nate silver says obama has 296 electoral votes compared to romney's 241. remember you need 270 to win. by any measure obama's well ahead in the tally of electoral votes. that's the only count that counts. silver, by the way also gives obama a 74.6% chance of winning this election. and i don't know about you but i kind of like those odds. we'll keep our eye on the white house for you. president obama has a statement today, i'll be there for it. we'll see you right back here again tomorrow. have a good one. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."